For a single, suspended second, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Kurogami, Yuuji, and the cloaked entity stood in a perfect triangle of tension, each assessing the others with silent, lethal focus.
Kiromi pressed a hand to her chest, breath shallow. Dad… Kurogami… what are you both caught up in?
The wind shifted.
VWUMMMMM—
A deep resonance vibrated through the courtyard as the entity extended its arm again. The distortion around it thickened, reality bending like heat haze.
Yuuji planted his lance into the cracked ground.
"Ryumen," he said sharply, "if it moves, we crush it."
Kurogami didn't look at him. "Killing it might cause more problems."
Yuuji scoffed. "It arrived in a dimensional fold on school grounds. I don't care what it causes."
The entity's "eyes" brightened.
SCANNING.
That word wasn't heard so much as felt — an intrusive pressure against every mind present.
Students collapsed to their knees from dizziness. Several fainted. Kiromi grabbed the railing, gasping.
"Stop—!" she choked out.
Kurogami snapped.
His aura flared, invisible to most, but sharp enough that the entity froze mid-motion.
"Enough," he said, voice trembling with control. "You're hurting them."
The glowing lines turned toward him again.
YOU. ANOMALY. MATCH CONFIRMED.
Kurogami exhaled slowly.
So it recognizes me.
That wasn't good.
Yuuji tightened his grip on the Graviton Lance. "What exactly has 'matched,' Ryumen?"
Before Kurogami could respond—
SHHHRRKKK—
The entity shifted again, its form momentarily splitting into several overlapping shapes before snapping back together. The distortion rippled through the courtyard.
Kiromi screamed as another shockwave shook the ground.
Kurogami moved before he could think.
FWSSH—
He appeared in front of her, shielding her from the blast. Dust rushed past them like a sandstorm.
"K-Kurogami—!"
"Stay behind me."
He said it firmly, without looking back.
From across the courtyard, Yuuji's voice boomed:
"Don't turn your back on the hostile!"
Kurogami turned sharply. "She'll get hurt if—"
"She wouldn't be in danger if you didn't drag this thing here!"
The accusation cut deeper than Kurogami expected.
The entity twitched.
Its arm dropped.
Then it pointed at Yuuji.
SECOND ANOMALY DETECTED. COMPARE—
"Don't compare me to him," Yuuji snapped. "I'm human."
Kurogami stiffened.
The entity processed the contradiction.
Then—
DISCREPANCY.
THREAT ASSESSMENT REVISED.
It lifted both arms.
Reality around its hands folded inward like paper.
Yuuji reacted instantly.
"GET DOWN!"
BOOOOOOOM—!!
Gravity detonated outward from Yuuji's lance, forming a dome of bent space that slammed into the entity's distortion field.
The clash carved a crater into the courtyard.
Students screamed. Windows shattered. The flagpole snapped in two.
Kiromi shielded her face as dust and debris rained down.
Kurogami grabbed her wrist. "Hold on!"
BOOM—!!
Another impact. Then another.
Yuuji's barrier cracked like splintering glass. Sweat beaded down his temple.
"Tch—This thing's distortions… They're beyond Class B…" He braced the lance with both hands. "Ryumen! Now would be a fantastic time to—"
Before he could finish—
The entity changed.
It drifted upward, cloak fluttering in a non-existent wind.
And then, for the first time, it spoke aloud—
a layered, echoing voice vibrating through the air:
"EXTRANORMAL UNIT-01.
YOU ARE SUMMONED."
Kurogami froze.
"No," he whispered. "Not again."
The entity raised both arms skyward.
The clouds twisted open like something was tearing the sky from the inside.
A void formed overhead — a pitch-black sphere ringed with blue lightning.
Kiromi covered her ears as a piercing whine filled the air.
VRRRREEEEEEEE—
Students fell to the ground, curled in pain.
Yuuji's eyes widened. "A fold aperture?! Ryumen—what did you bring on my daughter's school?!"
"I didn't bring anything!" Kurogami yelled over the noise.
He stepped toward the ascending figure.
"STOP!" his voice cracked with desperation. "I'm not coming with you!"
The entity turned its featureless face toward him.
"DENIAL IRRELEVANT.
SUMMONING PROTOCOL: IN PROGRESS."
Yuuji swore under his breath. "It's trying to extract him."
Kiromi grabbed Kurogami's sleeve. "Extract you?! From where?! Why?!"
"I…" His voice faltered. "I don't know."
But that was a lie.
Kiromi heard it.
Yuuji heard it.
The sky grew darker.
Lightning spiraled downward toward the entity.
"EXTRANORMAL UNIT-01," it repeated, "RETURN."
Then it extended its hand toward Kurogami—
The world seemed to warp.
Space folded.
The ground tilted.
Kiromi screamed his name.
Kurogami stepped forward and braced, teeth clenched, eyes glowing faint silver.
"I said—"
VWOOOOM—!!
His aura ignited.
"—NO!"
The entity recoiled.
Yuuji's jaw dropped. "What—?!"
Kurogami raised a hand, palm open.
He didn't strike.
He didn't blast.
He simply pushed.
And the push rippled through reality like a shockwave.
The distortion shattered.
The void flickered.
The summoning halted.
The entity spasmed, glitching violently.
SYSTEM ERROR.
PROTOCOL FAILED.
RECALIBRATING—
Yuuji recovered and lunged, swinging the Graviton Lance.
SHHHRACK—!!
The blade of condensed gravity tore through the entity's torso.
It didn't bleed.
It split.
Then—
FWSSH—
It vanished, sucked back into a collapsing ripple of space.
Silence.
The courtyard was wrecked. Students lay dazed. Dust hung in the air like fog.
Kiromi stared at her father.
Then at Kurogami.
"Kurogami," she whispered, voice shaking, "what was that thing? Why did it call you… 'Extranormal Unit-01'?"
He didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because behind her—
behind all of them—
Yuuji was staring at him with eyes full of dawning horror.
And suspicion.
And confirmation of something he had feared for years.
"…So it's you," Yuuji murmured.
Kurogami felt the bottom drop out of his world.
Yuuji stepped forward, voice low and lethal:
"Ryumen.
You and I are going to have a long, long conversation."
Kiromi gasped. "Dad! Stop—!"
But Kurogami wasn't looking at Yuuji.
He was looking at the sky, still flickering faintly.
Because the entity had left behind one final message in the air.
A whisper only he could hear:
"WE ARE COMING."